A MAN who has throat cancer has received an apology over being billed for a cable television service he has not been receiving.

John Watts, 47. a self-employed plumber, was diagnosed with the disease last November and decided to cancel his NTL subscription before undergoing a 13-hour operation in December.

He and his partner Margaret Dent, 47, agreed to cut back on household expenses while Mr Watts took time off work to recover from his illness.

But when Margaret rang up to cancel the service, telephone operators insisted on speaking to Mr Watts even though he couldn't talk at the time.

The couple, who live in Grange Park, stopped receiving the service, but continued to receive bills, totalling £196, as well as letters from a debt-collecting agency.

Mr Watts has phoned the company every month complaining about the problem, but from last week the company started threatening him with court action.

He said yesterday was a milestone for him because he finished his six week course of radiotherapy.

But at the same time he is fed up with his treatment from NTL.

He said: "It is another problem I just don't need. I had to explain the situation over and over to different people because they kept putting me through to different departments.

"I have a hole in my throat so I couldn't talk for two weeks and still find it difficult now. I feel horrible.

"The radiotherapy is worse than the surgery. I was travelling to Oxford every day for treatment and then I would come home and find these letters. I have not been able to eat for the past four weeks, I have been fed through a tube.

"The last thing I needed was hassle over bills."

Odette Sullivan, spokeswoman for NTL, said: "Mr Watts did ring up and cancel his service in December and we asked him to send us a letter but we never received it.

"We have backdated the bills to January as a good will gesture.

"He kept receiving letters because he was already in the system and the post goes out automatically.

"We apologise if he is worried, we have tried to explain to him that he doesn't owe anything..

"We have recently changed the process and people don't need to write a letter to cancel their service anymore."

John's problems with the company follow a long list over the years of complaints from other NTL customers.

So far this year the Evening Advertiser has reported three stories about the company apologising to customers.

One apology was to a disabled 82-year-old war hero Douglas Payne who was threatened with debt collectors for unpaid bills even though he had cancelled his contract.

The same month, Barry Small, 39, from Eldene returned his set top box to the cable provider after the company failed to collect it only to have it returned to him with a £275 bill for damaging it.